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I really loved this issue for many many reasons, but I’m not gonna lie, for someone that is new to comics this was kind of a bear to read. I had to rely on friends that knew the JLA characters and google, but once I read it a couple times and learned who all the characters were I was able to pick it up and follow along. However, needing to have to do that made the ending to this issue a lot more impactful for me than it otherwise may have been, so I really don’t feel like it was a down side.

I’ll also admit that at first, I was “homesick” for Nick Derington’s art when it comes to the Doom Patrol, but I got over that rather quickly simply for the fact that I was absolutely blown away by the art in this issue. ACO did a beautiful job with it and the way he went about tackling these panels is absolutely brilliant. He has a way of tackling panels that I was not familiar with and as a new reader it was a little overwhelming at first because it’s just so efficient that it allows for a lot of information and details to be condensed into tight quarters. Not to mention the action scenes were just totally brilliant. I could visualize the motion and felt like I was watching a movie more so than reading a comic- fucking fantastic art (But I still can’t wait for more Doom Patrol with Nick).

As I said before, I didn’t know the JLA characters so I went into this book partially blind and I had to google and learn who each character was- and yes I moaned about it the entire time I was doing it. I wanted it to be an easy familiar read like Doom, Shade, Cave and Mother Panic have become. But that wasn’t the case, and I was forced to be open-minded and learn some acceptance of these new characters and I feel like that really fit the tone that was going on in this story.

I was really impressed with the writing coming from both Steve Orlando and Gerard Way on this project. There is so much detail, so many new ideas, so many characters, so many many many moving parts, and yet they manage to put it all together seamlessly. Not to mention I have to believe they must have had a lot of fun writing this with all the references and tiny details that are put into the comic. I can just see them all cracking up as they came up with some parts, and just generally having a blast coming up with concepts and references you see scattered throughout the pages. Part of what made me love this book is the feeling that the writers themselves loved this book and truly enjoyed putting it together.

I feel like this book, much like Doom Patrol, and I can only imagine the JLA comics, possesses a lot of empowering vibes for the reader- specifically the importance of staying true to yourself and embracing who you are. The Doom Patrol and JLA may have the same objectives but they come from two very different sides of the tracks, and the way they come together and show their human side is truly remarkable.